Page 39 of The Fast Lane
Theo startled. Reflexively, his arm squeezed me tighter and hauled me closer. I squawked at the bone-cracking embrace and held my breath as his sleepy blue eyes met mine. He blinked slowly. He seemed to take stock of his body. His leg slid from mine. Which was kind of sad. The hand on my back eased off.
I cleared my throat, my face hot. “Hi.”
“Hi?” His hand in my hair began to move through my hair. And then again. And then again.
“Are you petting me?” I whispered.
The hand stopped. “I, um…”
I sat up quickly, taking the blanket with me, and stared at him. Which was a terrible idea. Awake and alert Theo I could handle (barely). Sleepy, rumpled Theo with his hair askew and his eyes lazy. Whoa, Mama. This was going to be how I died.
Please put the following on my tombstone:
Here Lies Alicia Ramos
Daughter, Sister, Friend
She died doing what she loved:
Staring at Theo Goodnight in wonder
Maybe I was in a dream?
I saw the second his brain clicked online. His eyes widened and a faint blush dusted his cheeks. He sat up slowly. Our eyes met for half a second before we both looked away. That’s when I noticed we’d managed to squish ourselves on his bed, the one he pushed next to mine. At some point last night, I’d crossed the imaginary line to plaster myself to him. I could not be trusted. Seriously.
“I, ah…I wasn’t…I mean, it must have…” He raked his fingers through his hair which only made it stand on end. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say here.”
“Hey, no biggie. It happens, right?” I shrugged.
He nodded. “Right. Yeah. It happens.”
“Totally.”
“Yup.”
“All the time, I’m sure.”
He frowned. “What are we talking about?”
I opened my mouth and closed it, then huffed a laugh. “I have no idea.”
His mouth tipped in a crooked smile. Our gazes locked and held. I pressed a hand to my stomach where the dragons were engaged in some kind of aerial routine.
Somewhere outside a dog barked and broke the Theo-induced trance I was under. “I’ll just get out of your way.”
Blanket in a death grip, I scooted down the bed and slipped off the bottom, almost falling when I tripped on a flip-flop. I leaned an elbow on the dresser at the foot of the bed. “So, busy day ahead, and all.”
I was proud of myself for how calm and cool I sounded. Since it was the exact opposite of what was going on inside. There, the dragons seemed to be growing in strength and number. I peeled a curtain back from the window above the dresser, anything to distract me from red-cheeked, messy-headed, totally adorable Theo, in time to see a man stroll by walking his dog. Naked, except for the sandals and a belt bag. With a shudder, I flipped back around.
Seconds turned to minutes filled with awkward silence. I played with the edge of my shirt, studied the wood plank floor, watched an ant make its way toward the dresser. My skin felt itchy. Suddenly, I couldn’t stand there one more breath.
“I am going to the bathroom. To, um, get dressed and brush my teeth. Unless you want to go first,” I said to the general area above Theo’s head.
He cleared his throat. “Nope, you, ah, go first.”
“Alright. Well, then…” I sidestepped toward my backpack. “I will go get ready. In the bathroom. Right now.”
I skittered into the bathroom and hastily shut the door. After dumping my backpack on the counter, I gazed at myself in the mirror.